taste and see that the LORD is good

"You are good, and what you do is good"
                                                 Psalm 119:68

Often I hear people credit God's goodness and faithfulness when things are going well in their life.  Many facebook posts these days say something like:  "I passed my test.  God is faithful", "I'm engaged.  God is so good", or "We're pregnant.  God is good".  My intention in this post is not to knock you if you've posted or said something like this.  Instead, it is to call all of our attention (myself included) to the faithfulness and goodness of God.  I know that the intentions of our hearts when we say things like this are to have hearts of gratitude and to recognize that it is God who brings these great blessings into our lives.  The danger we can fall into though is a lop-sided view of God.  We can start to believe that He is good only when our circumstances are "good".  Jesus promised us that we would have trouble in our life.  Anyone who's lived long enough in this broken world knows that.  What happens then when we encounter hardship, sorrow, and suffering.  What do we do with God then?  How will we view Him then?  Can we still say that God is faithful when we fail that test and fail out of school?  Is God still good when we have a broken engagement or when another birthday rolls around and we are still single?  Can we still say God is good when we have a miscarriage or when another year goes by and we are still childless?  In those times it often feels like He is not good,  or He just doesn't care.  But that is a lie.  The enemy would love for us to believe it.  He loves to get us to try and doubt the goodness of God.  It's the oldest one in the book, literally.  He tried it, successfully, with Adam and Eve in the garden, and he tried it with Jesus in the desert.  The truth, though, is that God is good in any and every circumstance, because that is who HE IS.  We need to remember that He is faithful in times of joy AND in times of sorrow.  His plan for our lives never fails, and He is faithful and loving toward all He has made.

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
                                                    Job 1:21


"Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior."
                                          Habakkuk 3:17-18